Video file apparatus for displaying and storing data from plural documents in superposition

ABSTRACT

A video file apparatus includes a recycling type of video-signal storage device, a video-signal generating source, a display device, and a synchronizing-signal generator circuit for causing each of said video-signal storage device, said video-signal generating source and said display device to operate in synchronism with each other, wherein a video signal being supplied from said video-signal storage device to said display device is displayed, replaced by and superposed on a video signal from said video-signal generating source at a predetermined time and the video signal in superposed form is stored in said videosignal storage device.

[75] inventor:

[22] Filed:

United States Patent [191 Nagai 51 Apr. 17, 1973 [54] VIDEO FILEAPPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING AND STORING DATA FROM PLURAL DOCUMENTS INSUPERPOSITION Hiroshi Nagai, Chigasaki, Japan [73] Assignee: .Hitachi,Ltd., Tokyo, .lapan Dec. 31, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 103,071

[52] US. Cl. .340/324 A, l78/D1G. 6 [51] Int. Cl ..G06f 3/14 [58] Fieldof Search ..178/D1G. 6, 6.6, 178/6.6 R, 6.6 DD, 6.6 HS, 6.6 SF; 340/324A, 152. 154

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,569,617 3/1971 Allen..l78/6.6 DD 3,465,097 9/1969 Brabon et a1. ..178/D1G. 6 3,580,9935/1971 Sandorf et a1. ..l78/D1Ci. 6

W050 AMP HORIZON m GEVERWUR Em/ML $AW7Z7077-IWAVE ce'n/marm 3,345,45810/1967 Cole et a1. ..340/324 A 3,396,377 8/1968 Strout ..340/324 A3,579,249 5/1971 Dewey et a1. ..178/D1G. 6

Primary Examiner-John W. Caldwell Assistant Examiner-Marshall M. CurtisAttorney-Craig, Antonelli & Hill ABSTRACT A video file apparatusincludes a recycling type of video-signal storage device, a video-signalgenerating source, a display device, and a synchronizing-signalgenerator circuit for causing each of said video-signal storage device,said video-signal generating source and said display device to operatein synchronism with each other, wherein a video signal being suppliedfrom said video-signal storage device to said display device isdisplayed, replaced by and superposed on a video signal from saidvideo-signal generating source at a predetermined time and the videosignal in superposed form is stored in said video-signal storage device.

4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures r r HQQ/ZO/VML 46 l/HiT/CAL /47 DEFLECT/CW0EFLEC770/V CIRCUIT 49 CIRCUIT VIDEO AMP 28 MIXER Wfi/T/A/G //v E WEPATENTEDAFR17|973 3.728.712

SHEET 1 UF 3 /65 /75 CRTD/SPLA) 00 N07 USE m/s BLANK FOR Fun/I 2 T SAKE00 N07 USE r/ws BLANK 5 FOR FUTUFE INVENTOR BY RMJW Aim,

ATTORNEYS PATENTED APR 1 7 I973 VERTICAL SM SIG/VAL HOR/ZO/WAL SYNCS/GWAL J OUTPUT OF PL/PPL0P35 OUTPUT OF FL/PPL0 30 OUTPUT OF A/VUGATE 36SHEET 2 BF 3 {Ow/95700 o z/va 6472' 4/ EN PER/O0 OF 57 475 2 INVENTORmkosm uqcym BY 01 QM, gm mug ATTORNEYS VIDEO FILE APPARATUS FORDISPLAYING AND STORING DATA FROM PLURAL DOCUMENTS IN SUPERPOSITIONBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to a video file apparatus for displaying and storing the datafrom plural documents in superposition. More particularly, it relates toa video file apparatus which is capable of altering its contents as astationary picture recorded on a recording medium is being displayed ona display device.

2. Description of the Prior Art In ancient times when no money existed,articles wanted by various persons were bartered by mutual agreement asto their interchangeable amount and value. Accordingly, the exact valueof the article varied according to circumstance was not fixed. Whenmoney appeared, the value being generallized, standardization of thevalue was promoted thereby. At present, further progress is being madeto construct a so-called cashless society in which money is not carriedabout, but the amount of money is recorded in a file such as for acomputer, so that account may be settled on the basis of confidence inthe recording. In addition, remittances etc. are transmitted in the formof data, and no cash actually moves. Thus, economic activities are nowconducted without using real money.

Such an idea and the embodiment thereof, it may be considered, willfollow a similar tendency in the case of information. More specifically,among various sorts of information, particularly literature anddocuments and the like are in the material form at present. They arecirculated as if articles were handled or cash were used. It is themicrofilm that has been developed with the thought of possibleconvenience through a reduction of size. However, even the microfilm isa mere reduced thing and is physical, so that handling is difficult formechanization. Furthermore, it is in no way possible to change theinformation which has once been made into a microfilm.

In place of the microfilm and the like, Videofile (trade mark, AMPEXCorp.), an apparatus utilizing the video tape recording technique hasbeen recently suggested in order to make documents invisible and excludethe mechanical handling thereof, and further, to reduce the volume forrecording, enable alteration of contents and provide an immediatetreatment attended with none of the development process, etc. Since theapparatus satisfies all the above-mentioned functions, it is easy torewrite the entire page of a document. In such case of making a list,however, sequential additions of changes to a part of a picture, forexample, are impossible in any direct way. For these changes, such anindirect way is unavoidable that they are written on a piece of paperand are subject to video recording each time the list is altered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide avideo file apparatus which does not require rewriting of the recordingto alter the contents.

Another object of this invention is to provide a video file apparatuswhich is capable of freely altering the contents at an optional part ofa displayed picture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENT:

Description will now be made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 shows a display screen 2 after the contents displayed on acathode-ray tube (CRT) 1 have been subjected to changes. According tothis invention, only a format 3 illustrated in FIG. 3 is first recorded.The format 3 represents PAGE NOs. and ITEMS only, and

. contains no contents thereof. In the second step, information 4 shownin FIG. 2 is recorded in superposition on the format 3 having beenalready transcribed, without changing the latter. The information 4 doesnot contain the format 3 including the PAGE N 0s., ITEMS etc., but itonly consists of one as really desired to be added. Accordingly, theformat 3 is recorded once only. This differs from an image transcriptionin which the format 3 having been previously recorded is erased torecord anew a format 3 added to the information 4. In such case, theformat 3 having been previously written should be left as a copy on apiece of paper. This is contradictory to the spirit of this inventionthat no documents are materially left behind. An object of thisinvention is to add only the desired contents to information having beenalready recorded or changed the stored information merely by writing thenew contents on a piece of paper by hand, thus fully eliminating thenecessity for keeping a copy or a manuscript after an imagetranscription for addition or alternation. The nature of this inventionwill be explained in connection with the following example for ease ofunderstanding. In this example, an information 5 with a certain area asillustrated in FIG. 4 is intended to be added to the information havingalready been recorded to complete a modified information display asshown in FIG. 1'. To this end, as shown in FIG. 5, a part of a displayedpicture 7 composed of a number of rasters 6 is left so that any videosignal is not added thereto for a certain period of time. Thus, a blankportion 8 is formed. The information 5 to be substituted into or addedto the portion 8 for the period is transcribed in a target scanningsection 9 (FIG. 6) of an image pickup tube. Then, a video signalobtained at a scanning part 10 (FIG. 6) corresponding to the blank part8 is added to the displayed picture. In order to embody this treatment,an arrangement as in FIG. 7 may be carried out.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a cathode-ray tube 11 for display hascircuits l4 and 15, for respectively generating horizontal and verticalsawtooth waves, driven by a vertical synchronizing-signal generators 12and 13 by a motor 45 and which has had images transcribed on a track 18.The video signal is then applied to a video amplifier 40 via a gate 22as well as a mixer circuit 23. An output from the video amplifier 40 isapplied to the cathode-ray tube 1 l to effect brightness modulation, sothat rasters form the display screen 2. The disc 19 may be representedas a recycling type of video-signal storage device.

On the other hand, a television camera tube 24 for photographing theinformation to be added as in FIG. 4 converts an optical image fallingupon the target 9 by a lens 25, into a video signal 27 by means of animage video amplifier 26. In this case, the television camera tube 24has horizontal synchronizing pulses 28 and vertical synchronizing pulses29 respectively applied to a horizontal deflection circuit 46 and avertical deflection circuit 47 of the tube 24 and to horizontal andvertical deflectors 48 and 49, so as to scan the target 9. In order thatthe display screen 2 of the cathode-ray tube 11 may provide the blankpart 8 as illustrated in FIG. 5,

the circuit arrangement is operated as follows. The

- and 34 respectively having time delays Tv, and Tv as shown in FIG. 5.Outputs from the multivibrators 33 and 34 set and reset a flip-flop 35,respectively. It is to be understood that when outputs from theflip-flops 30 and 35 are applied to an AND gate 36, a period in which itprovides the level of an output 37 is equal to the period of the blankpart 8 in FIG. 5. An output 39 obtained by passing the output 37 throughan inverter 38, is at the null level just for the period of the blankpart 8. When the output 39 is applied to the gate 22, the video signalread out from the track 18 will be blocked by the gate 22 and will notreach the video amplifier 40 via the mixer circuit 23 being an ORcircuit, insofar as the output 39 is at the null level. Thus, no pictureappears on the display screen of the cathoderay tube 11, and the blankpart 8 is formed as in FIG. 5. The rasters 6 running through the blankpart 8 are not subjected to brightness modulation at all.

On the other hand, scanning beams run on the target 9 of the imagepickup tube 24. Only during the period in which the level of the output37 is not null, i.e., during the period of the blank part 8 in FIG. 5,is a gate 41 opened so that the video signal 27 generated in the imagepickup tube 24 is delivered to the mixer circuit 23. Thus, the opticalimage focused on the scanning part corresponding to the period of theblank part 8 is displayed on a place corresponding to the blank part 8of the cathode-ray tube 11. Accordingly, if the information as desiredto be substituted is projected in the scanning part 10, it will beinserted into the image having been already transcribed in the track 18.In case where it is desired to transcribe the image after substitution,it may be written in a further track 42 through a writing-in circuit 43.Further, in order to transfer the contents of the track 42 to the track18, it is possible, by way of example, to move the head 44 onto thetrack 18 for the intended image transcription. As apparent from theabove description, only a part as desired to be altered may be replacedthrough photographing an image by the image pickup tube 24.

It is to be understood that the position and size of the picture 5 to beinserted may be freely varied by adjusting the time lags of the fourone-shot multivibrators 31, 32, 33 and 34 from the horizontal andvertical synchronizing pulses 28 and 29. It is accordingly possible toarrange a number of one-shot multivibrators respectively havingdifferent time delays, in order to select the most suitable ones amongthe one-shot multivibrators dependent upon the position and size of thepicture 5 to be inserted.

As will be clearly understood upon reading the above detaileddescription, the aspects of performance of this invention reside in thefollowing:

l. A video'file apparatus capable of optionally altering its contents,characterized in that as a stationary picture recorded on a recordingmedium is being displayed, a part of the picture which may be designatedwith its position and area being variable, has not the picture from saidrecording medium displayed thereon, but has a stationary picture fromanother device displayed thereon.

2. A video file apparatus capable of optionally altering its contents,characterized in that as a stationary picture recorded on a recordingmedium is being displayed, a part of the picture which is designatedwith its position and area being variable,does not have the picture fromsaid recording medium displayed thereon, but has a stationary picturefrom another device displayed thereon, the position and area of saidpart to be designated being determined by periods of time fromhorizontal and vertical synchronizing signals.

I claim:

1. A video file apparatus comprising a synchronizingsignal generatorcircuit, a display device which operates in synchronism withsynchronizing signals from said synchronizing signal generator circuit,a recirculating type of video-signal storage device synchronized withsaid signals from said synchronizingsignal generator circuit, avideo-signal generating source synchronized with said signals from saidsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, a first gate for supplying avideo signal from said video-signal storage device to said displaydevice and back to said videosignal storage device, a second gate forsupplying a video signal from said video-signal generating source tosaid display device and said'video-signal storage device, and controlmeans operated by said synchronizingsignal generator circuit for openingeither one of said first and second gates at a time.

2. A video file apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidvideo-signal storage device comprises a magnetic recording medium, ontowhich outputs of said first and second gates are recorded.

3. A video file apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said controlmeans includes timing means for generating timing signals representingpredetermined periods of time designating positions at which said videosignal from said video-signal generating source is to be displayed onsaid display device, said timing means counting the periods of timeevery time the synchronizing signals are received, whereby said firstand second gates are controlled in dependence upon said periods of timeso that one or the other of said first and second gates are opened at atime.

4. A video file apparatus comprising a synchronizingsignal generatorcircuit including a horizontal synchronizing-signal generator circuitand a vertical synchronizing-signal generator circuit, a display deviceoperated in synchronism with synchronizing signals from saidsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, a recycling type of video-signalstorage device synchronized with said synchronizing signals from saidsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, a video-signal generating sourcesynchronized with said synchronizing signals from saidsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, first gate means for supplying avideo signal from said video-signal storage device to said displaydevice and back to said videosignal storage device, second gate meansfor supplying a video signal from said videosignal generating source tosaid display device and said video-signal storage device, first andsecond one-shot multivibrators responsive to a horizontal synchronizingsignal from said horizontal synchronizing-signal generator circuit, afirst flip-flop which is set by an output of said first one-shotmultivibrator and which is reset by an output of said second one-shotmulti-vibrator, third and fourth one-shot multivibrators which are setby a vertical synchronizing signal from said verticalsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, a second flipflop which is setby an output of said third one-shot multivibrator and which is reset byan output of said fourth one-shot multivibrator, an AND gate havingrespective inputs connected to the set outputs of said first and secondflop-flops, means for opening said first gate means in response to anoutput of said AND gate, and means for opening said second gate means inresponse to an inverted output of said AND' gate.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION 3, 728, 712Dated A mil 17, 1973 Patent No.

Inventor(s) HiIOShi Nagai It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below: 7

First page of patent, priority data omitted. Should read:

Application No. 45/376, Japan, January 5, 1970-- Signed and sealed this1st day of January 19714..

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. RENE D. TEGTMEYER Attesting Officer ActingCommissioner of Patents FORM PC3-1050 (10-69)

1. A video file apparatus comprising a synchronizing-signal generatorcircuit, a display device which operates in synchronism withsynchronizing signals from said synchronizing signal generator circuit,a recirculating type of video-signal storage device synchronized withsaid signals from said synchronizingsignal generator circuit, avideo-signal generating source synchronized with said signals from saidsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, a first gate for supplying avideo signal from said video-signal storage device to said displaydevice and back to said video-signal storage device, a second gate forsupplying a video signal from said video-signal generating source tosaid display device and said video-signal storage device, and controlmeans operated by said synchronizing-signal generator circuit foropening either one of said first and second gates at a time.
 2. A videofile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said video-signal storagedevice comprises a magnetic recording medium, onto which outputs of saidfirst and second gates are recorded.
 3. A video file apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein said control means includes timing means forgenerating timing signals representing predetermined periods of timedesignating positions at which said video signal from said video-signalgenerating source is to be displayed on said display device, said timingmeans counting the periods of time every time the synchronizing signalsare received, whereby said first and second gates are controlled independence upon said periods of time so that one or the other of saidfirst and second gates are opened at a time.
 4. A video file apparatuscomprising a synchronizing-signal generator circuit including ahorizontal synchronizing-signal generator circuit and a verticalsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, a display device operated insynchronism with synchronizing signals from said synchronizing-signalgenerator circuit, a recycling type of video-signal storage devicesynchronized with said synchronizing signals from saidsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, a video-signal generating sourcesynchronized with said synchronizing signals from saidsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, first gate means for supplying avideo signal from said video-signal storage device to said displaydevice and back to said video-signal storage device, second gate meansfor supplying a video signal from said video-signal generating source tosaid display device and said video-signal storage device, first andsecond one-shot multivibrators responsive to a horizontal synchronizingsignal from said horizontal synchronizing-signal generator circuit, afirst flip-flop which is set by an output of said first one-shotmultivibrator and which is reset by an output of said second one-shotmulti-vibrator, third and fourth one-shot multivibrators which are setby a vertical synchronizing signal from said verticalsynchronizing-signal generator circuit, a second flip-flop which is setby an output of said third one-shot multivibrator and which is reset byan output of said fourth one-shot multivibrator, an AND gate havingrespective inputs connected to the set outputs of said first and secondflop-flops, means for opening said first gate means in response to anoutput of said AND gate, and means for opening said second gate means inresponse to an inverted output of said AND gate.